Playoffs Update:
MnJHL, AWHL, WSHL

Biscuits and Breezers

   Welcome back to another blog of Biscuits and Breezers! I have had many requests to write a playoff update article for 3 leagues to clarify which teams are moving on, which teams have been eliminated, and to clear up any jumble that has been going having to juggle three leagues all at once! I hope this helps some of you out and you enjoy reading it at the same time! The playoffs are moving along quickly so hopefully I will be caught up before new series start! Enjoy!

   Going into round 1 of the MnJHL playoffs these were the pairs battling it out for the one and only final advancing spot: In the Minnesota Division it was the Dells Ducks vs. Rochester Ice Hawks and Maple Grove Energy vs. Hudson Crusaders. In the Great Lakes Division it was the Marquette Royales vs. Wooster Oilers and Illiana Blackbirds vs. Tri-City IceHawks. All series were Best of 3 games. In the Ducks/Ice Hawks match up, the Ducks swept Rochester with scores of 4-0 in the 1st game and 3-0 in the second game. The Crusaders also swept their competition, the Energy, with outstanding scores of 2-1 SO/OT in game 1 and 3-1 in game 2. The Ducks and the Crusaders are half of the teams that have found themselves with tickets to the final four in Oregon, WI. Over with the Great Lakes teams, Marquette and Wooster were up next and in sure fashion, Marquette powered over the Oilers a 4-1 final in the first game and a 4-2 final in the second. Illiana/Tri-City was the only series to extend to three games with the Blackbirds being the eventual victors. 8-4 in favor of Illiana was the score of the 1st game, the IceHawks carried away game 2 with a 5-4 final, and in a stressful game 3 the Blackbirds were able to finish strong with a 5-3 win that would land them in a Final Four spot. The finals will be fought out in Oregon, WI at the Oregon Community Sports Arena and are scheduled to take place on Friday (3/21/14), Saturday (3/22/14) and IF NECESSARY Sunday (3/23/14) with the championship on Monday (3/24/14). Good luck to all of the teams that were able to fight on another day!

  The games going on in the AWHL have been quite exciting and action packed! The teams battling it out were #2 Great Falls Americans vs. #3 Gillette Wild and #1 Helena Bighorns vs. #4 Billings Bulls. These series were the Best of 5 and had some very surprising results. The Americans and Wild went 4 games with scores as follows: Game 1 @ Gillette: 5-1 Great Falls, Game 2 @ Gillette: 3-2 Great Falls, Game 3 @ Great Falls: 3-2 Gillette (2OT) and Game 4 @ Great Falls: 5-2 Great Falls. Games were on Tuesday 3/11/14, Wednesday 3/12/14, Friday 3/14/14, and Saturday 3/15/14. Helena swept Billings in 3 games with the scores of: Game 1 @ Billings: 4-0 Helena, Game 2 @ Billings: 4-1 Helena, and Game 3 @ Helena: 5-2 Helena. These games took place over Tuesday 3/11/14, Wednesday 3/12/14, and Friday 3/14/14. The championship Best of 5 series will take place on Tuesday 3/18/14 at the Helena Ice Arena at 7:35 pm MST, Wednesday 3/19/14 at the Great Falls Ice Plex at 7 pm MST, Friday 3/21/14 at the Helena Ice Arena at 7:35 pm MST, and IF NECESSARY Saturday 3/22/13 at the Great Falls Ice Plex at 7 pm MST, and finally Sunday 3/23/14 at the Helena Ice Arena at 7:35 pm MST. Best of luck to both the Helena Bighorns and the Great Falls Americans in their quest to become champions!

  

   Since there are so many teams I will just list the outcomes! There were about 12 teams in this and it would get too jumbled to combine it all into one so I apologize about that! Games took place over 3/14/14, 3/15/14, and IF NECFESSARY 3/16/14

ROUND 1:

Long Beach vs. Fresno Monsters (Western Division): Game 1: 3-4 Fresno and Game 2: 5-9 Fresno 

Boulder Bison vs. Phoenix Knights (Mountain Division): Game 1: 5-3 Boulder, Game 2: 2-10 Phoenix, and Game 3: 2-4 Phoenix

Texas vs. Dallas Ice Jets (Midwest Division): Game 1: 2-3 Dallas, Game 2: 5-4 Texas, and Game 3: 3-2 Texas

Salt Lake City vs. Ogden Mustangs (Northwest Division): Game 1: 2-5 Ogden and Game 2: 1-4 Ogden

Missoula Maulers vs. Idaho Jr. Steelheads (Northwest Division): Game 1: 0-3 Idaho, Game 2: 3-2 Missoula, and Game 3: 2-5 Missoula

Dallas Snipers vs. El Paso Rhinos (Midwest Division): Game 1: 1-7 El Paso and Game 2: 1-3 El Paso

Colorado Eagles vs. Cheyenne Stampede (Mountain Division): Game 1: 4-5 Cheyenne, Game 2: 6-2 Colorado, and Game 3: 8-0 Colorado

Valencia Flyers vs. Ontario Avalanche (Western Division): Game 1: 6-5 Valencia, Game 2: 1-2 OT Ontario, and Game 3: 4-5 2OT Ontario

To decide who the divisional champions will be that will move on to the Thorne Cup finals in El Paso, Texas, here is the schedule for Round 2:

Friday 3/21/14, Saturday 3/22/14, and POSSIBLY Sunday 3/23/14:

Ontario Avalanche vs. Fresno Monsters 5:30 pm (Western Division)

Colorado Eagles vs. Phoenix Knights 6:45 pm (Mountain Division)

Texas vs. El Paso Rhinos 7:30 pm (Midwest Division)

Ogden Mustangs vs. Idaho Jr. Steelheads 7:30 pm (Northwest Division)